Euphemisms abound

The more things stay the same, the more words the technology industry finds to discuss how much it's all changing. Cloud computing is happening - but it's slower than the pundits would like, and this lack of mass adoption of public cloud computing has led many to turn their attention to on-premise cloud computing and the conclusion that a 'hybrid cloud' is the way of the future. This, in turn, has begun yet another debate over terminology.

Most experts refuse to discuss the definition of 'cloud' these days.

Lori MacVittie is technical marketing manager for Application Services at F5 Networks.

This time the debate is over 'hybrid' and what that really means. Is it just a description of combining traditional deployment models with a cloud deployment model on-premise? Does a 'hybrid cloud' require both on-premise and off-premise cloud deployment models? Just what does it mean to employ a 'hybrid' cloud strategy?

Most experts refuse to discuss the definition of 'cloud' these days, feeling it is unproductive. By and large they are right, because regardless of what any expert claims is or is not cloud computing, organisations are moving ahead with their own implementations.

Organisations have come to understand what many (usually those with a vested interest in narrowing the definition) refuse to acknowledge: cloud computing is a deployment model, an architecture, an application delivery model, but it is not a tangible 'thing' that can only exist in specific locations.

Those who have already come to that conclusion are likely to also recognise that 'hybrid cloud' is merely an integration strategy; the means by which they can keep control over their applications and infrastructure while taking advantage of public cloud computing resources.

Regardless of whether a hybrid strategy focuses solely on internal deployment or includes external deployment options, the key to 'hybrid' is integration.

Once upon a time, when SOA and WOA were riding the hype cycle wave, the entirety of the technology space was focused on integration. How are applications integrated that simply couldn't be 'Webified' (mainframe tethered applications, for example) into a Web architecture? How do users integrate partners' systems with their own to make more efficient supply chain processes? How are Web services integrated with their applications?

This same process is occurring now, but at the infrastructure level. Instead of simply integrating applications - something with which IT is well-versed these days - companies are shifting their focus toward integrating infrastructure, something with which IT is not so well-versed. But like its application predecessors, a successful integration strategy must be able to incorporate on-premise, off-premise, and “legacy” systems to enable consistent processes and management of resources across the entire infrastructure demesne.

The scenario in which hybrid is most often mentioned is overflow capacity, or cloud-bursting. The gist is that the data centre is somehow extended to include public cloud compute resources as a means to expand local capacity. This requires integration, and quite a bit of it. Simply provisioning the resources in a public environment isn't enough - it must be tied back into the infrastructure and the delivery process. It must be “joined” to the existing resources in such a way as to appear a seamless extension of the corporate compute resource pool. This process requires integration into existing infrastructure architecture.

Whether the resources are local or remote, traditional or cloud, they must work together. And working together in technological terms means integration, and integration requires attention to architecture.

Without an architectural strategy that recognises and addresses the need for integration across disparate data centre deployment models, it will be difficult for the value of any cloud computing model to be realised.

Architecture is founded on integration. “This piece of functionality goes over here, that piece over there, and they work together like so.” It doesn't matter if users are talking about board design or systems. It's about the way in which the individual pieces of infrastructure are put together and how they connect to form something greater than the sum of its parts. Without an architecture, without integration, users are missing the real value of cloud computing in any form.

Joe McKendrick noted this in: “Does it Matter if it's SOA or Cloud Services? Not to the Business” when he said: “Architecture is the missing ingredient needed to help cloud computing deliver to the business - but to date, 'cloud architecture' has meant building or buying clouds, not leveraging them.”

Leveraging cloud computing is what hybrid is about, and leveraging cloud computing resources means integration - of resources, services and applications.

Whether it is the integration of cloud services with internal traditional infrastructure, or internal traditional infrastructure with internal cloud services, it's still aboutintegration. Hybrid is an integrated architectural approach that provides the means by which all components - regardless of location or style - can be leveraged to provide value to the business, and in the case of cloud computing, to IT as well.